Discuss - Ep #0431

[Watching Project]

Robservations #431

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:

Re: Discuss - Ep #0431

[MagnusTrask]

First line after theme music, from Barnabas of all people:  "Why do we never learn to leave the past alone?"   !!!  ***  This is the first pink "Dark Shadows" title I remember seeing since starting this viewing (from ep #1 on).  ***  Welcome, Daniel Collins!   I wrote this down as a funny line, but I forget why it was funny-- Daniel to Abigail I think:  "Do you want to fly too?"

Bad BAD tutor, Vicki, for telling the kids that someday everyone could just forget how to do math because machines would do it for them.   I remember during my senior year in high school, calculators appeared, everyone suddenly had them, and I was stunned to find that my math teacher was letting students do math on their calculators instead of actually using their brains.   So Vicki isn't the only one to have this insane and lazy attitude.   

You have no inner light within you, Abigail.   I like how she's too much of a busybody to run when the coffin opens, she just has to see...   Great scream!

[DarkLady]

This ep. is full of great scenes and concludes with one of the greatest lines in the entire series. Abigail's scream is pretty good, too.

I must also single out another all-time favorite and absolutely delightful scene, when Ben gravely advises Daniel (welcome!) on what to take with him if he's running away. Daniel promises to make a list and show it to Ben. As man to man, they solemnly shake hands on the agreement, and David goes back to Collinwood much happier than when he left it. [spoiler][A long time from now, in 1840, we will see that although much else has changed, Daniel’s gratitude is none the less.][/spoiler]

Very, very late in the day, Abigail gets to the Old House just as Ben is also arriving. Ben does his best to dissuade her from going in, even offering to get whatever she wants from inside the house, but Abigail doesn’t trust the man she caught sneaking into her bedroom. She tells him, I’m expecting Reverend Trask this evening. I want you to go back to Collinwood and tell Reverend Trask to meet me here at the Old House. Ben still hesitates, then makes up his mind. He asks her, And if anything happens to you here--? Abigail replies stoutly, It will be my responsibility. Now go and do as you're told! Fearlessly she marches in. Ben lingers just long enough to remark to us, Aye! It will be your responsibility! And I hope ye get what's comin' to ye!

[MysticScribe]

I watched this episode over the weekend, so I've forgotten some things.

Abigail confiscating Daniel's list, she just can't stay out of people's business, even a child's.  I liked how Daniel persuaded her to give it back. I really enjoyed the scene when she was asking him about Vicki. Although we never see Vicki tutoring the children, we learn a couple of things. 1) Given the situation, she's none too bright in having told them about life in the future and 2) you can understand why Daniel and Sarah liked her so much. To them, her fantastical stories about the future were entertaining compared to the usual dry lessons.
 
Daniel's curiosity about the future appealed to his imagination, but I think it also showed that he was like his cousin Barnabas; open to the possibilities. Daniel eagerly reaches forward, whereas Abigail stubbornly clings to the past. Abigail has a line (paraphrasing) "If the good Lord intended me to fly, he'd make me an angel." Watch it, Abigail, some demons have wings, too.

Ben's line about Abigail getting what's coming to her was priceless.

[dom]

Should there already be a coffin in the Old House basement? Barnabas decides to 'reside' at the Old House and against his better judgment, Ben promises to protect him. I wasn't too crazy about Frid's performance but I did like his delivery of: "Ben, I will be here long after you're gone. I have thousands of nights to look forward to; millions. 'Millions' really got me. Back then, 'millions' must have seemed like an eternity.

Nice to have Henesy back. Good actor and great energy. I wouldn't imagine Ben being good with mischievous male children but it is not so. I appreciate the departure from Barnabas' drama. David's & Henesy's scene was an enjoyable one on every level. I guess being an adult trumps being the master's son. Love seeing the Old House front porch set, with the hedge, shrubbery and distant blue sky.

Great idea to use Vicki's ramblings about the future to the children as evidence of witchcraft. And fun watching David 'mess' with Abigail.

[MagnusTrask]

I have thousands of nights to look forward to; millions. 'Millions' really got me. Back then, 'millions' must have seemed like an eternity.

Got me too.   He's overestimating his ability to avoid accidents and exposure, but surviving to infinity is a real possibility.  And thanks for joining in, MS....

[alwaysdavid]

The coffin is suddenly in the cellar and apparently its twin in still in the mausoleum as Ben wants Barnabas to go there but Barnabas wants to stay in the Old House probably clinging to a happier past when he was still human. Daniel suddenly appears in the storyline and acts as if he had always been around and involved when he was never mentioned until recently. He is hiding in the Old House from Abby Dearest and learns Ben was there. In her attempts to control everythiing, she goes to the cellar and sees the coffin screaming loudly. Loved how Ben was smiling as he left her.